St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-13
A HEARTLESS HOAX.
Tearing Up Society With Stories OF
Bombs.
NERVE OF TIE POLICE.
How the Finest Handled the Deadly
Foyg---SCenes at the
Time.

Early yesterday morning considerable
excitement was caused on the street by
q rumor that c. p. Cook, member Of
the Merchants police, had found a big
! dynamite bomb on Fourth street, near
the new Globe building. The story
|, spread rapidly and by 8
o'clock the report had gained
such magnitude that in travelling the
| distance of Il block one could hear that
| from one to 100 bombs had been found.
/ Investigation showed that something
resembling a bomb had been found, but
that it was not dynamite bomb. 1t
was found about 6 O'Clock, and taken
to the a. ID. Il. Office, and from there to
police headquarters. The bomb" is
| really an iron tube nine inches in length,
! one and One-fourth inches in diameter
and very rusty. One end was solid,
having been welded together, and
squared off slightly. The tube was
file with reddish substance, re-
fsenlbling soft lead. PrOtruding from
this was fuse about three inches long,
which had been lighted. as it was
slightly charred. About half an inch
down on the pipe from this end was a
narrow flangc, and from this to the end
of the tube a screw thread extended,
giving the tube an appearance OF having
had a screw cap ON 1T at some
time. While the '.bomb" was at the
American District telegraph office.
Prof. Dodge, of the State university,
was requested to examine it, but he re-
fused. About noon the thing was taken
TO police headquarters. Here Supt.
Helm. Assistant Supt. Hoy and Capt.
HankinsOn decided to test it and see
what it really was. Accordingly the
three wrapped the bomb up in many
newspapers and repaired to spot out
side the city limits. Here big. hot fire
was built. and with bated breath the
scylinder was cast into the flames. AS
soon as it was thrown in the three police
officials made wild rush for Anoka
county. In their haste to escape being
several times. After reaching safe
distance they paused, waiting for the
explosion. None came, and half an
hour later the three men walked eau
.tiouSly back to the fire and found their
..bomb" red hot. 1t was cooled off and
taken back to police headquarters,
where an examination was made. The
iron tube was filled with a dark-cOlored
sand and that was all. 1t was learned
later Oh that this ''bOmb" was manu-
featured by some funny individual in E
G. Cauvet's plumbing shop, IS Fourth
street south. Mr.. Cauvet. said that on
Friday friend was in the place and,
picking up an old piece of gas pipe, re-
marked that he was going to make a
bomb and have some fun. The finding
of the article caused the two afternoon
papers to engage in wOrdy warfare,
which may not be settled without pistols
and coffee.
The second bomb was found by Peter
Floriday, boy, in North Minneapolis,
and was really dangerous looking
affair. While house was being moved
from Ninth avenue north, near Wash
ington, this boy was prOwling around.
and in his search found the ''bomb."
1t was an iron tube about seven inches
long by three inches in diameter, and
was plugged up by wood at one end and
partly by wood and partly by tele-
phone insulator at the other, and through
the hole in the inSulatOr tarred fuse or
wick about three inches long prOtruded.
The iron is half eaten through by rust
and the wood is rotten and worm eaten.
1t was taken in charge by Lieut.. Dan
Day, of the North Minneapolis police
station. and given a careful eXamina-
ton. There was nothing explosive
about it.
About o'clock yesterday afternoon
while Third street, NicOllet and Henne-
pin avenues were crowded with people,
many of them ladies coming from the
matinees, there was terrific report in
the alley between Nicollet and Henne-
pin avenues, and second later dense
clouds of thick smoke rolled up be-
tween the buildings. Some one in the
vicinity shouted, ga bomb has been
fred" and made rush for the alley.
The report startled the crowd and in
side of two minutes Third street was
packed from block to block. Every one
was nervous and excitable, and it would
not have taken much to have changed
the crowd into bowling mob. 1t was
finally found that some one had touched
off cannon firecracker in the alley land
this was what caused all the disturb
ance.